For an online store, there is no bigger occasion than Black Friday to bring out everything in their marketing arsenal. From innovative strategies to quirky ant-event campaigns, there are tons of things that need to go right for a successful Black Friday marketing campaign.
However brands need to consider many factors when putting together an effective Black Friday marketing campaign.
We will look at some of the best Black Friday marketing campaigns by brands, but before that, let us look at the things one should consider when preparing a Black Friday marketing campaign.
What to Consider For a Solid Black Friday Marketing Campaign?
Black Friday sales can easily become the highest revenue-generating period for eCommerce companies, as long as they know how to capitalise on it.
Marking the unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping season, Black Friday is considered the busiest shopping day — online and offline — in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, seconded by Cyber Monday (the Monday after Black Friday).
Smaller retailers have the opportunity to target new customers and generate sales from existing customers during Black Friday sales through effective eCommerce marketing strategies. The key to an effective Black Friday marketing campaign lies not only in the quality of your marketing copy or offers but also in your timing.
For your Black Friday strategy to succeed, it is best to start promoting in advance to expand your reach to a wider audience and capture their attention. It is a good idea to roll out your marketing campaigns at least a month in advance and start promoting your loyalty discounts at least a week or two prior to the sale.
However, before you even think of crafting a marketing campaign for the Black Friday sale on your online store, you must first narrow down the objectives and goals you want to chase with it. Depending on your product catalogue, you might want to target marketing Black Friday as well as Cyber Monday/Cyber Week and may need to design your campaigns accordingly.
Apart from this, your marketing campaign will also rely on your budget and the target markets you want to focus on.
16 Best Black Friday Marketing Campaigns For Inspiration
Now that we have covered the basics of putting together a Black Friday marketing campaign, let us look at some of the best black friday marketing campaigns that brands have come up with over the recent years.
1. Mystery Box Campaign - Sugarbones
A quick visit to the Sugarbones website will tell you that the online store is all about femininity and colourful products for the younger female demographic. Sugarbones combines quirky and girly designs with empowering messages created by a Canadian artist on a wide range of products.
Sugarbones strives to maintain the theme of fun and excitement in products when designing Black Friday marketing strategies and offers. One of the campaigns designed by Sugarbones was a Mystery Box — a box of surprise products that customers can order off the website. Customers also get small trinkets, bonus stickers and accessories with every order during the Black Friday sale.
The store owner and primary product designer stress the popularity of such mystery boxes among users who love surprises. It is also a great way to set your store apart from the usual discounted products and offers brands generally promote during Black Friday adverts.
2. #OptOutside Campaign - REI
The #OptOutside campaign by REI, a retailer selling goods and supplies needed for outdoor adventures was successful because of how brand-coded it was. REI announced that it is closing all its stores on Black Friday and paid employees to go on outdoor adventures, staying true to its beliefs and values. The campaign stressed the importance of disconnecting and encouraged people to enjoy nature and the outdoors instead.
In the quest to conquer Black Friday and market for it, brands can easily lose sight of their brand values and beliefs. The #OptOutside campaign stands out for this precise reason — it reinforces customers’ faith in REI’s brand values and capitalises on the hype of Black Friday with a unique twist.
This campaign is the perfect reminder for brands that Black Friday sales are not just about generating revenue, but also about winning over new customers and retaining the existing ones.
3. Customer Retention Campaign - The Wallack’s
The Wallack’s is a well-known art gallery and store in Ottawa for over 80 years, making it a popular name in the art circuit. Wallack’s eCommerce store is aimed at making art supplies and shop inventory more accessible to artists in remote places.
While Wallack’s initially aimed its Black Friday marketing tactics at outcompeting art suppliers in the United States and Canada, today is more about customer retention. Wallack’s believes in using the sales period to make the products and supplies in the store even cheaper, making it easier for existing customers to get better deals on purchases.
The Black Friday advertising campaigns run by Wallack’s narrow down the most popular products among existing customers and make them even more accessible. By addressing the needs of its existing customers effectively, Wallack’s can ensure the continuation of its legacy and reputation among artists.
4. #BlackFridayCountdown - Amazon
When we talk about selling products online and discounts, it isn’t possible to neglect mentioning Amazon — one of the biggest eCommerce giants in the world. Amazon builds excitement and hype for its Black Friday sale in the most straightforward way — with the help of a countdown.
Amazon starts the countdown weeks in advance and unveils multiple special discounts and offers every day, encouraging customers to stay tuned and building anticipation for the Black Friday discounts.
5. Signed Editions Campaign - Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble has always come up with interesting ideas to differentiate its Black Friday sales from other brands. The Signed Editions Campaign is one such idea that lets B&N go beyond the traditional discounts and offers that stores generally promote for Black Friday.
The bookstore instead decided to release half a million autographed copies of books from its bestselling authors as a part of the Black Friday marketing strategy. Instead of pricing slashes, Barnes & Noble decided to leverage the Black Friday event to offer something highly exclusive to its customers.
As a result, Barnes & Noble ended up with one of the most successful holiday seasons and the popularity of the offer has ensured that it continues to this day.
6. Anti-Black Friday Campaign - Cards Against Humanity
Cards Against Humanity is a popular party game that entails coming up with strange and quirky phrase combinations using black and white cards in the pack. Similar to the #OptOutside campaign by REI which highlighted the cons of the Black Friday hype and the resulting consumerism.
Instead of selling products at slashed prices, Cards Against Humanity increased the prices of the products, shocking its customers. This move is a bold statement by the brand discouraging the excessive hype around Black Friday sales and breaking through the noise surrounding the event.
7. 99% Off Sale - Cards Against Humanity
As established in the previous example, Cards Against Humanity is great at cutting through the noise during Black Friday sales and has some of the best Black Friday marketing ideas. Cards Against Humanity’s 99% off Sale is talked about even today for its ingenuity.
For its Black Friday 2018 campaign, the Cards Against Humanity website turned into an online store selling dozens of strange items. The sale had some really outlandish items such as live ants, a coffin, a 10-day trip to Antarctica, and even a Ford Fiesta! The deals refreshed every 10 minutes with a high-value item selling for 99% off.
Due to the price slash, the Cards Against Humanity website crashed multiple times with people rushing to shop and creating a crazy Black Friday spectacle. The whole move was to promote the new card expansion launched by the brand - the Absurd Box, which got grossly ignored on the day of the sale but benefitted from the attention the brand garnered because of the sale.
8. Free Shipping Campaign - Sephora
While most brands focus on promoting heavy discounts, product bundles, and offers to make the most of the Black Friday Sale, some brands focus on other kinds of value promotions. Sephora, the popular beauty products retailer decided to reduce the obstacles in the purchase process.
Sephora announced free shipping for the entire weekend for its Black Friday along with a 50% store-wide discount. This way of marketing for Black Friday successfully attracted several new shoppers and tapped into the potential of impulse buying.
9. Buy Back Friday - Ikea
Ikea, the world’s largest furniture retailer is a household name at this point. So for this brand, Black Friday is about offering the best deals possible to customers rather than gaining more credibility or expanding their customer base.
But during Black Friday 2020, Ikea decided to take a different direction, by offering a great deal to customers while discouraging hoarding or buying unnecessary commodities. With that notion in mind, Ikea introduced the Buy Back Friday campaign where it offered to buy back used Ikea furniture for up to 50% of the original price.
Ad Link: IKEA BuyBack Friday Campaign 2020 - Ad
As a result, customers could easily declutter and even swap their old furniture for new ones by leveraging the deal. The Buy Back Friday campaign was a great way for Ikea to target eco-conscious consumers who believe in sustainable shopping.
10. Only Sales of the Year Campaign - Glossier
Black Friday events are always highly anticipated whether your consumers are value seekers or luxury shoppers. Everyone likes a good deal, and if the deals and discounts are rare, it makes for an even more special value offering.
Glossier, the skincare and makeup brand built hype for its Black Friday event with the help of the Only Sale of the Year campaign. The name of the campaign is significant because it marks the only time of the year when the products are discounted. It not only meets the guidelines of a typical Black Friday sale, it also creates a sense of urgency and scarcity which can encourage shoppers to make the most of the sale.
11. “Don't Buy This Jacket” Campaign - Patagonia
The “Don't Buy This Jacket” campaign by Patagonia is perhaps one of the most popular and memorable Black Friday marketing campaigns ever. Patagonia is a well-known outdoor clothing brand focusing on sustainability and a pro-environmental stance.
For a brand that is so pro-sustainability, it would not be on brand to promote a sale that is considered a symbol of consumerism. The “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign was designed to discourage customers from purchasing new items unnecessarily and make them think about the environmental impact of their purchases.
Even though Patagonia seemingly discouraged consumers from buying their product, the campaign worked because it aligned with the brand’s core values.
12. Holiday Sway Ad - Apple
Amidst the many deals and discounts offered by brands during the Black Friday sale, it is easy to lose sight of the actual underlying reason behind the sale. Most people who participate in Black Friday sales do so with the intent of carrying out their Christmas shopping.
In 2018, Apple released a “Sway” ad for Black Friday targeting Christmas shoppers meant to evoke holiday emotions and capture the Christmas spirit. It is considered one of the best ads for Black Friday, by creatively using storytelling and leveraging the dance theme to showcase popular Apple products like the iPhone and Airpods as facilitators of festive joy and connection.
Ad Link: Holiday Sway | Apple iphone x Airpod HD
The campaign successfully propagated the idea that Apple products can bring moments of happiness and togetherness to people, encouraging them to purchase.
13. Production House Logos Video Ad - AussieBum
Sometimes, more than promoting your offers, product deals, or even your brand, you can make the most of the Black Friday event by grabbing your customers’ attention.
AussieBum, an Australian men’s clothing brand has been known to promote its products in a unique and quirky way. With colourful and fun prints, the brand’s target audience quite literally consists of younger men — millennials and Gen-Z.
Link: aussieBum - 2016 Ultimate Black Friday Sale! 50% OFF!!
In 2016, AussieBum released one of the best Black Friday ads to promote their Black Friday Big Sale with over 50% price slashes on products. This creative advertisement contains visuals of popular production house logos redesigned with the products and designs offered by the brand. Not only is the advertisement relatable to the target audience, but it is also very engaging to new users who are just discovering the brand.
14. Super Cash Campaign - Kohl’s
Kohl’s, the popular department store chain, is known for offering a wide range of products to customers at highly competitive prices. Since Kohl’s always prices products at lower prices, it had to go beyond that to make Black Friday count.
With that in mind, Kohl’s started not only offering products at lower prices but also providing extra Kohl’s Cash (store credit) to customers on each purchase as part of its Super Cash campaign. Kohl’s could thus reward customers’ current purchases as well as encourage them to shop again using Kohl’s cash.
Kohl’s Super Cash campaign was aimed at maximising its current revenue, encouraging repeat business, and rewarding customer loyalty.
15. Schworts Campaign - Chubbies
Like AussieBum, Chubbies is also a men's and boys' clothing brand offering a wide range of products across several categories. Since the brand’s messaging always revolves around comfort, the Schworts campaign was no different.
Schworts was not just the name of the campaign, but also Chubbies’ new product — a combination of sweats and shorts, designed to provide comfort to wearers. Chubbies created and promoted this product for its Black Friday campaign in a playful and engaging way boosting its social media presence.
The Schworts campaign took a unique and light-hearted approach towards the holiday season and even encouraged customers to participate in the campaign with their experiences and pictures.
16. Reverse Auction by Samsung Australia
Samsung has always come up with unique and best Black Friday advertising campaigns. True to its reputation, Samsung Australia came up with a Reverse Auction campaign that flipped the narrative of the traditional Black Friday sale.
Instead of setting lower prices on products, Samsung lets customers decide the price they want to pay for popular products like Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Neo QLED Smart TV.
Ad Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u2ZWvvi_64&t=4s
The reverse auction would start at the recommended retail price, and keep lowering till it was sold or reached $1. This innovative campaign created a lot of buzz, excitement, and festive competition among consumers and was promoted through TV advertisements. With over 50,000 participants, this holiday campaign generated a lot of traffic and sales for the brand.
5 Tips to Craft Highly Effective Black Friday Marketing Campaigns
1. Get Deeper Insights Into Your Audience
As observed in most of the aforementioned Black Friday marketing campaigns, the primary reason behind their success was their grasp of the target audience’s preferences and needs. During Black Friday promotions, just about every brand bombards consumers with deals and offers, making it important for you to tailor the deal in order to stand out from the rest.
Identify the purchasing patterns and behaviours of your consumers in advance and tailor the deals and offers based on what motivates them the most - is it free shipping? Exclusivity? Heavily discounted prices? Specific product bundles?
Use this information to craft the most lucrative deals for your customers and promote them on the right platforms to maximise your revenue during Black Friday sales.
2. Set Clear Goals and Objectives
Due to the surmounting pressure to get out of your marketing messages during the Black Friday hype, it is easy for brands to lose direction in what they want to achieve. It is important to associate clear goals and objectives with your Black Friday event so that you can enjoy the rewards of its success.
Having these clear and measurable goals will guide your Black Friday marketing campaigns and inform decisions pivotal to your current and future marketing campaigns.
3. Experiment With A Teaser Campaign
Your Black Friday campaign could completely fail if you don’t build enough excitement and anticipation around it. Consider creating and running a teaser campaign so that customers remember your brand during the Black Friday event.
Build a list of people most interested in your promotions and keep marketing your fun Black Friday deals and offers to them to ensure that they shop from your brand.
4. Ensure Omni Channel Promotions for Black Friday Deals
To ensure that your Black Friday deals reach your customers everywhere, utilise multiple platforms and mediums for promotions. Promoting your Black Friday deals across various marketing channels will help highlight the best deals you are offering during the event.
Leverage all your social media marketing channels and create engaging content to interact with your target audience. You can also utilise email marketing to deliver tailored deals and personalised offers to customers. Complement them with the right offline marketing tactics to unlock the complete potential of your Black Friday event.
5. Test Multiple Iterations of Your Campaign
Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping events of the year for any online store, and any promotions you run for it have to be fast-paced and on-point. Before you take any of your Black Friday marketing campaigns ahead, test various iterations of different elements of your campaign such as email subject lines, landing pages, and call-to-action buttons.
You must monitor the performance of each iteration of your marketing campaign closely to choose the ideal version for getting results.
Concluding Remarks
With Black Friday marketing campaigns, you can be as creative as you want. But the truly successful campaigns are those that hit the perfect balance between effectiveness and creativity. By aligning your marketing campaigns with your brand values and goals, you can not only make the most of your marketing campaigns but also achieve revenue goals through your Black Friday event.
Need a responsible 3PL partner to help you navigate the deliveries of the orders you receive this Black Friday? Get a quote from the PACK & SEND website to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Which date is Black Friday Sale in 2024?
The Black Friday Sale 2024 is on 29th November, 2024 (Friday).
2. How Early Do Black Friday Deals Begin?
While the main Black Friday event is on the last Friday of November, the Black Friday deals can begin as early as the beginning of November. In some cases, these offers and deals can start from late October as well.
3. What is the concept of the Black Friday sale?
The Black Friday sale takes place after Thanksgiving and marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Shoppers across the world utilise the Black Friday sale to shop for presents for their loved ones.
4. Does Black Friday increase sales?
For an online or traditional retailer, Black Friday is the biggest shopping event of the year and can help boost their sales and revenue.